Thursday, September 18, 2014

Quick Hits

---Here's a bold prediction: Reid Municipal Golf Course in Appleton will be closed within ten years. The city is setting the facility on a death spiral by eliminating the pro position at the course this week. Aldermen saw revenue potential in ending the deal with the current pro that included a share of the money generated by cart rentals, concessions and the driving range. The only problem is that now the city will have to pick up the costs for all of that stuff (which the pro had been covering). What's more, the new positions of Golf Superintendent and Clubhouse Manager will likely be filled with people far less passionate about the game than Stacey Gassner has been for the past decade. We can debate the merits of municipal golf courses, but if you are going to have one (and sink a bunch of money into using the property as a stormwater detention basin as well) you may as well run it correctly.

--Residents of Scotland are going to the polls today to decide whether or not to commit political and economic suicide. A national referendum on independence could see the country break away from the United Kingdom. Studies have shown that Scots pay more than English residents in taxes (and get less in the way of government programs in return)--so you can see why they might want to go their own way. But those pushing for independence are making the fatal mistake of keeping the British Pound as their currency. Even super-Liberal, Keynsian economist Paul Krugman agrees that is idiotic--since you would be an independent country that doesn't control its own money supply. That's the same recipe for disaster that nearly all of the countries in the European Union have learned the hard way--especially those that thought they could continue their outrageously-generous welfare programs with cash taken from more fiscally-responsible countries.

---Governor Scott Walker wants to drug test welfare recipients--and deny benefits to those who are using. I know this is a popular campaign promise with the hard-core base of the GOP--but it really doesn't provide that much public benefit. Florida passed a similar law and found just a handful of those on the dole were using drugs. In fact, the cost of testing so many people actually exceeded the savings to taxpayers. What's more, I don't think it's fair to punish children who may rely on benefits to eat or to stay in an apartment just because their parents are losers and idiots.

---Finally, I went to see The Book of Mormon at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center last night. While the show is about an hour too long, I did enjoy that nearly everybody could be offended by the content. That's probably why I was laughing the hardest and most often of everyone in the theater--especially during the "Hasa Diga Eebowai" song. I was this close to buying the t-shirt with that saying on it--but couldn't justify the $35 cost to make almost everybody who would ask about it mad. If you don't like thinking for yourself--I'd recommend passing on this one.